Highland Church’s Annual Serve Day Mobilizes Thousands

Highland Church engaged over 19,000 volunteers during its annual Serve Day on Saturday, addressing the needs of communities in Alabama and Georgia.

This yearly event gathers volunteers from the church’s 26 campuses to tackle both physical and mental challenges through various initiatives like home repairs, meal deliveries, hospital visits, and school clean-ups. In partnership with the faith-based humanitarian organization Convoy of Hope, volunteers also distributed food and essential supplies to underprivileged areas.

“We love our community, and it’s an honor to show up and serve people, letting them know they’re not alone,” shared Mark Petus, a reverend at Highlands. “The Highlands exist to make a difference in the world around us, and service days are one of the ways we do it together.”

The initiative utilized the Serve Day app, created by Highlands and made available to other churches to support their outreach efforts. This tool helped coordinate volunteer efforts for over 90,000 Highlands members.

This year’s event also marked an increase in collaboration with Highlands associations, delivering 500,000 pounds of food and essential items to individuals facing food insecurity, financial hardship, and personal crises.

Locally led and often organized by small groups, over 1,040 projects were completed. These included assisting elderly neighbors, renovating homes for foster parents, and supporting veterans and individuals dealing with medical or financial issues. Significant community institutions such as schools, food banks, shelters, and women’s resource centers benefited from these efforts.

Overall, the Serve Day Project resulted in 36,039 meals served to 143,101 individuals, creating an economic impact exceeding $2.4 million within the community.